


DECEMBER

by Anne_Carter



Series: A Year In The Life [7]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Gen, mature language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 01:12:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13869924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anne_Carter/pseuds/Anne_Carter
Summary: AJ patted his pocket.  “Well, I’ve got the subpoena just in case.  Can you call Bayley and let her know I’m already here?”  “Will do.  I’d tell you to kick Barrett’s motherfucking ass, but it’d probably send the wrong message to the kids.”  With that Alicia disconnected the call.  “I gotta tell the boss to switch the coffee to decaf,” AJ muttered as he walked across the parking lot.The legal process moves forward as people fight for Dean.  Dean gets a birthday gift he didn't know was possible.  Seth comes face to face with Santa then gets his secret wish granted.  Finn totally covets Dean's Christmas gift.  And New Year's Eve brings a surprise.





	DECEMBER

“Roman Reigns.”

Xavier Woods took a deep breath. “Roman, this is Xavier Woods. I hate to bother you at work, but we have a problem.”

Roman frowned and leaned back in his chair. “What problem?”

“I really don’t want to do this over the phone. When can you and Bayley meet with me? The sooner the better.”

“Can I call you back? I’m off tomorrow afternoon, but I’m taking Dean to a doctor’s appointment,” Roman explained. “I need to see if we can get someone to watch Dean and Seth after that.”

“Sure. If I’m in court or with a client, just tell Alicia. Thanks, Roman.” Xavier hung up before Roman could ask any questions.

“That’s gonna get them good and rattled.”

Xavier looked across the desk to where his investigator, A. J. Styles, was lounging in a chair.  
“What was I supposed to do? Drop that bomb on him over the phone?” he demanded.

AJ shook his head. “No good way to drop that bomb at all.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “Does Heyman have a chance of getting that adoption reversed?”

Xavier shrugged. “Obviously, **he** thinks so. He’s basing it on his client being unduly pressured by Social Services and not in her right mind when she signed away her parental rights.”

AJ grunted. “Great. That sounds like a he said/she said situation.”

Xavier slowly smiled. “I was up half the night reviewing my files. I’d forgotten the Social Services worker who was involved until I saw his name in the files. He never relies on just his written notes. In cases like this, he **always** videotapes everything.” He opened a folder and handed a subpoena to Styles. “Serve this to Chris Jericho. Alicia’s got the address.”

 

“Xavier didn’t say anything else?” Bayley chewed on a fingernail as she stared out the window.

“No, but he sounded awfully serious.” Roman was worried and didn’t care who knew it.

“I’ll see if Sasha can watch the boys tomorrow afternoon. I’ll pick Seth up from school and meet you and Dean there after his appointment with Kofi,” Bayley decided. “I’ll call you back.”

“Be calm, baby girl,” Roman urged. “Whatever this is, we’ll handle it.”

Bayley nodded and took a deep breath. “We’ll handle it,” she agreed.

 

_‘There’s not enough money in the world to pay me to do this job.’_ The misery on the faces of the people around him was nearly enough to send Styles outside for air.

The misery of people fighting to keep their kids. The misery of people losing their kids. The misery of the Social Services workers who tried to do the best they could but were slowly being ground into pieces by the bureaucracy of the very system they worked for.

And then you had a slimy SOB like Paul Heyman sticking his pudgy fingers into the mess. AJ wished Xavier would just let Alicia loose on Heyman for five minutes. She’d scare him onto the path of the angels. _‘Hell, she scares **me** sometimes, and I pack a gun!’ ___

____

____

“Mr. Styles?”

AJ looked up to see a blonde-haired man with a goatee staring at him. “Chris Jericho?” When the man nodded, Styles handed him the subpoena.

Chris rolled his blue eyes and sighed. “Follow me.”

AJ followed him down to a small office, crowded with two filing cabinets, desk and two chairs. He sat in one of the chairs as Chris closed the door behind him.

“Uh, not to be a butthead, but I really need to make sure everything’s kosher on this one,” AJ explained. “Your last name’s really ‘Jericho’?”

Chris sighed. “Great-grandfather was a revivalist preacher. Typical hellfire-and-brimstone Baptist. Changed his last name to ‘Jericho’ for whatever reason. Yeah, it’s my real last name.” His voice was tired, as though bored from repeating the same story over and over. Then he sat behind his desk and opened the subpoena. After studying it, he looked up at AJ. “Why?”

“There’s been a petition to reverse the adoption,” AJ briefly answered.

Chris leaned back in his chair. “Really?” His eyes grew sad. “I honestly don’t remember this one specifically.” He glanced at the file cabinets. “Too many of them,” he muttered. Then he sat back up. “I’ll have copies of my files and the videotaped interviews made available to Mr. Woods as soon as possible.” He sighed. “I imagine I’ll be called to testify if this gets to court.”

AJ nodded. “Probably get subpoena’d by the petitioning attorney as well.”

“What a mess,” Chris grunted. “How old is the adopted child?”

“Just a few days from his fifth birthday.”

Chris swore under his breath. “Son of a bitch.”

AJ had to agree.

 

“Hi, Bayley, what’s up? Sorry I couldn’t answer when you called.”

Bayley breathed deeply at hearing her best friend’s voice. “I need a favor.”

Sasha Banks frowned, hearing the tremor in Bayley’s voice. “Bayley, what’s wrong? Are you okay? The baby?”

“We’re fine.” Bayley took another deep breath. “I need you to watch Dean and Seth tomorrow afternoon. I’ll get Seth from school, and Roman will bring Dean after his appointment with Dr. Kingston. I know you’ve got a horrible deadline, but we’d be there around three and it would only be for a couple of hours and…”

“Hey!”

Bayley gulped when Sasha brusquely interrupted.

“Screw the deadline. Of course, I’ll watch the boys. They can play with Cookie or watch cartoons or something while I’m working. What’s happened?”

“The lawyer who handled Dean’s adoption called. He needs to see us tomorrow.”

 

“Xavier Woods’ office. This is Alicia.”

“Uh...this is Roman Reigns. Xavier asked me to call him back with a time my wife and I can meet with him tomorrow.” Roman struggled to keep his voice calm.

“Oh, hi, Mr. Reigns.” Alicia’s voice became much warmer. “He’s with a client right now but told me to schedule you in when you called.”

“How about 3:30pm? That gives me time to get Dean from his doctor’s appointment to his sitter.”

Alicia scheduled the appointment. “No problem. Tomorrow at 3:30pm.”

“Thank you.” Roman hung up then dialed another number. When the call was answered, he spoke. “This is Roman Reigns. I need to speak with Dr. Kingston if he’s available.”

 

AJ started to enter the County Clerk’s office then backed away once he saw the man arguing with the clerk. _‘Well, well, well. David Otunga. Heyman’s little pet poodle.’_ While AJ despised Heyman just on general purposes, he despised David Otunga for his arrogance and snobbishness. _‘You’d think a “graduate of Harvard Law School” would have his own practice in some big city rather than doing Heyman’s grunt work.’_ Not for the first time, AJ wondered what hold Heyman had over Otunga.

“Just get it done.” Otunga grabbed his briefcase and stalked out of the office through the exit doorway.

AJ sauntered in and approached the clerk. “Hi, Carmella. Bad day?”

Carmella’s frown slowly disappeared. “Oh, just the usual bullshit from an asshole,” she muttered.

Style laughed out loud which caused Carmella to grin. He winked, “Well, his boss is just as bad.”

Carmella grunted. “What brings you here? Usually Alicia takes care of this stuff.” She reached for the envelopes in AJ’s hand.

“I was out and thought I’d do Alicia a favor,” AJ explained. “The boss is needing some motions filed and a couple of transcripts on old trials.” He glanced at the exit doorway. “So what’s got Otunga’s shorts tied in a knot?”

“Oh, I **must** expedite this divorce paperwork.” Carmella snorted, imitating Otunga’s voice. “Like we don’t have a ton of paperwork that needs to be filed.”

“Why would a divorce need to be expedited?” AJ asked. “Somebody anxious to get remarried?”

Carmella shrugged as she stamped the paperwork he gave her. Then she stopped. “Huh.” Her eyes flickered up to meet AJ’s.

“Something wrong?”

Carmella casually looked around then lowered her voice. “I’ve always like you, Styles. You don’t come in here expecting everybody to bow down to your Harvard law degree and push your stuff ahead of everybody else’s.” She slowly turned a file around to where AJ could read the label.

_‘Petition to dissolve the marriage of Jerry Ambrose and Catherine (Drew) Ambrose.’_ AJ glanced at Carmella and silently nodded his thanks. “Didn’t know Heyman was in the divorce business.”

Carmella replaced the file on the stack in front of her and continued processing his paperwork. “I’ve seen a lot of his stuff come through this office. First divorce I’ve seen.” She glanced around again. “Awfully funny both you and Otunga filing paperwork about the same people.” She tapped the files she’d just labeled requesting transcripts on the trials of Catherine Ambrose and Jerry Ambrose.

“Boss handled an adoption couple of years back on the Ambrose kid. Heyman’s petitioning for its reversal,” AJ briefly explained. “Thanks, Carmella. Knowing about this may help.”

“The adoption was a good one?” Carmella murmured. “The kid’s in a good place?” She handed AJ the receipt for the paperwork.

AJ nodded, pocketing the receipt.

Carmella silently took Otunga’s file and put it at the bottom of a large stack of files. She then placed AJ’s files on the top.

AJ grinned. “Carmella, if I wasn’t a happily married man with four kids…”

“Get outta here,” Carmella grumbled. “And tell Alicia to give me a call. We need a girls’ weekend soon.”

“Let me know if you girls need any bail money.”

 

Kofi smiled as Dean grinned up at him. 

“I’m gonna be five in a couple of days!” the boy proudly announced.

“Well, Happy Birthday!” Kofi cheered. “Go ahead and pick out a game for us.”

“Dominos?” Dean asked.

“Sure, why not?” Kofi laughed. He waited until Dean had disappeared into the next room then turned to Roman who had sat down in a chair. “You don’t look good,” he quietly remarked.

“This whole thing with the lawyer’s got both me and Bayley on the edge,” Roman admitted. “We’re trying hard to keep it from the boys and with Dean’s birthday coming up…”

“Any ideas?” Kofi carefully asked.

“The only one we can think of majorly sucks,” Roman sourly replied. “There’s something wrong with the adoption.”

Kofi sighed. “Yeah, that’s all I could think of.” He glanced at the doorway to the other room then placed a hand on Roman’s shoulder. “Dean looks a lot better; and since you haven’t mentioned otherwise, I’d guess he’s sleeping better?”

Roman nodded. “No nightmares. No mention of monsters.”

Kofi nodded. “If we’re right about what your lawyer wants to see you guys about, let me know how I can help.”

“Thank you,” Roman gratefully sighed.

 

“Mommy, how come we’re staying with Aunt Sasha? Where are you and Daddy going?”

Bayley glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Seth’s curious expression. “Well, Daddy and I…have a meeting…with people…from the North Pole.”

Seth’s dark eyes widened. “Santa?” he whispered in awe.

“No, not Santa. Some of Santa’s people.” Bayley thought quickly. “You know, just to confirm email addresses…so you can email your Christmas list to Santa. And confirm where you live. Oh, and add Yorkie to Santa’s pet list.”

Seth bounced, clapped his hands twice, then hugged himself. 

“But you can’t tell anybody,” Bayley warned.

“Not even Dean?”

“You can tell Dean,” Bayley assured him.

“What about Aunt Sasha? So Cookie gets on the list?”

Bayley repressed a sigh. “Okay, Aunt Sasha. But nobody else. Okay?”

Seth solemnly nodded.

Roman’s car was parked outside Sasha’s apartment building when they arrived. Bayley took Seth’s hand and they walked into the building and down the hallway to Sasha’s apartment. The second Sasha opened the door, Seth hugged her leg then ran to the couch where Dean sat with their Daddy.

“Dean! Guess what!”

Roman leaned down and gave Seth a quick kiss and hug. “We gotta go, baby boy. You two be good for Aunt Sasha, okay?”

“We will,” Dean promised as he ran to hug and kiss his Mommy.

“Thanks, Sasha,” Bayley murmured as she hugged her friend.

“No problem. Call me later,” Sasha whispered. She took a deep breath as she closed the door behind her friends, then forced a smile. “Okay, c’mon. There are cookies and milk in the kitchen.”

“And we can tell you about the meeting with Santa’s people!” Seth excitedly grabbed Sasha’s hand.

_‘Say what?’_ Sasha wondered.

 

“Heyman’s never done a divorce in his entire career,” Xavier scoffed. “So why’s he doing one now and having Otunga expedite it?”

AJ shrugged. “It can’t be a coincidence. And Heyman doesn’t come cheap. I doubt this woman could afford his services.”

Xavier grunted in agreement. “Once we have those court transcripts, we might know more. And Jericho’s files. Hopefully that’s not going to take long.”

AJ sprawled out in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. “Oh, I think your paperwork will be given precedence over Otunga’s.” He looked back at his boss. “Otunga pissed Carmella off with his attitude.”

“Moron,” Xavier muttered.

The office door opened and Alicia entered, closing the door behind her. “The Reigns’ are here,” she announced. “Early but I figured you’d want to see them anyway.” She walked to the desk and gave Xavier a piece of paper. “You didn’t say how many pots and pans so I priced each possible set. Set of six. Seth of eight. And so on. Best price on a set of six is at $300.00. Best price on a set of eight is $425.00. Best price on a set of ten is $500.00.”

Xavier whined and dropped his head to the desk. Then he peeked up to look at Alicia. “Really?”

“Really. Told you that you’d need to loosen the purse strings.” She put her hands on her hips. “Ready to see the Reigns’ now or do you want to whimper some more?”

AJ chuckled under his breath.

Xavier raised his head and took a deep breath. “I’ll get them.” He took the paper from his desk and handed it to Alicia. “Go ahead and order the set of eight. Have it shipped here. I’ll give you my card.”

“No need. I’ve got the number.” 

AJ laughed outright then struggled to compose himself.

Xavier ignored both his investigator and his assistant and walked to the outer office. “Hi, Roman. Bayley. Come on in.” When they entered the office, AJ stood up.

“This is my investigator, A. J. Styles,” Xavier introduced. “AJ, this is Roman and Bayley Reigns.”

Roman and AJ shook hands then AJ retreated to a chair on the far side of the room so Bayley and Roman could sit opposite Xavier’s desk.

Xavier sat down with a sigh. “You may have figured it out, but Dean’s adoption is being challenged,” he gently began.

Bayley moaned lightly and leaned against Roman.

“I don’t understand,” Roman admitted. “Why? How?”

“A petition has been filed with the court on behalf of Dean’s birth mother,” Xavier carefully explained. “The petition claims that Social Services unduly pressured her to waive her parental rights and took advantage of her while she was still under the influence of narcotics.”

“Can they do that?” Bayley demanded. “Years later?”

“They can **try** ,” Xavier admitted. “The burden of proof is on them to prove their allegation.” He leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know if you remember the Social Services worker, Chris Jericho?”

Bayley smiled and nodded. “He was so nice. He played with Seth when he was investigating our home.”

“He videotapes his interrogations and instances where parental rights are either waived or stripped,” Xavier explained. “He’s already been subpoena’d to produce those records. Chris has a good reputation for doing things cleanly.”

“Then that’s it, right?” Roman looked from Xavier to AJ. “The videotapes will show nothing wrong happened, and this goes away.”

“Ideally,” Xavier agreed. “The other attorney, Paul Heyman, is good. I despise the man, but he’s good. He’ll bring Dean’s birth mother into court. She’ll be contrite. She’s cry. She’ll be remorseful. She’ll be confused as to what actually happened with Social Services. She’ll cry some more. Heyman’s also file a divorce petition from her against her husband, Dean’s birth father. So I’m going to guess she’ll put the blame for everything bad onto him.”

“Dean’s monsters,” Roman muttered.

Bayley looked at him in surprise then gasped.

“Monsters?” Xavier exchanged a confused look with AJ.

“Dean…Dean’s suffered from nightmares for a while. Terrible nightmares,” Roman dully explained. “We got him in with a child therapist who’s been doing great things with Dean. The monsters say he’s bad and always cries. That’s he’s no-good. Then he wakes up scared or even screaming.” He took a deep breath. “Dean drew a picture of them for his therapist. A man and a woman. The woman has blonde hair, and the man has red hair. They…look frightening.”

“Who’s the therapist?” Xavier demanded, grabbing a pen.

“Dr. Kofi Kingston,” Bayley answered. “His office is in the Steiner Building on Dudley Street.”

“He said today to let him know how he can help,” Roman added.

“This could be key,” Xavier admitted.

“Why haven’t we seen the court papers yet?” Bayley asked.

AJ smirked. “Heyman and his assistant, Otunga, aren’t the most well-liked people in the County Clerk’s office,” he explained. “I’m not saying their paperwork is deliberately delayed, but sometimes things just get shuffled to the bottom of the stack.”

“Don’t be surprised if you receive the paperwork tomorrow or in the next few days,” Xavier warned. “And you may be subpoena’d as well. If so, accept the subpoenas and say nothing. If pressed, tell whoever is serving it they need to contact me.” He handed both Bayley and Roman several of his business cards. “No matter what they say or do, that’s all you say. And then call my office.” He looked at Roman. “I know Heyman. He’ll have you served at your place of work.” He looked at Bayley. “He’ll have you served when you’re with your children, preferably out in public.”

“I pick the boys up at school each day.” Bayley looked at Roman in shock. “We can’t let Dean or Seth know about this.”

“And you can’t get over-stressed,” Roman warned. He looked at Xavier. “Bayley’s pregnant.”

“Can someone go with you to get the boys?” AJ quietly asked.

“No, Roman, you can’t take off work every day.” Bayley stopped Roman from speaking.

“Yes, I can,” Roman hissed.

“What time do you pick up the boys?” 

Bayley looked at AJ. “At 1pm. Gulfside Academy.”

“I’ll meet you there until you get served,” AJ calmly announced. “Call the school tomorrow morning and explain. I’ll come in early to speak to the principal.”

Xavier widely smiled. “Good, that’s settled. Now, is there anything…anything at all that could be used against either of you? Depending on the judge we get, Heyman may or may not be able to go after you, your parenting skills, lifestyle, or whatever. Roman?”

“A couple of parking tickets that I paid on time,” Roman shrugged. “My brother got a speeding ticket once that he successfully contested. He, my parents, and cousins all moved back to Samoa years ago. I **do** travel a lot on business.” He watched as Xavier scribbled on a tablet.

“I’m not speaking to my parents or my sister and her family,” Bayley admitted. “They never approved of Roman and they never liked Dean. My nephews always bullied Seth, but it kept getting worse.” She sighed. “They’re the ones who told Dean about being adopted, and they did it in a terrible way. We didn’t realize they attended the same school until they bullied Seth and knocked him down. Dean wound up getting into a fight with them.”

“But Dean wasn’t the aggressor?” Xavier questioned.

Bayley firmly shook her head. “The security footage clearly shows my nephew, Kevin, shoving Seth down. Seth wound up with a badly scraped elbow and arm.”

“I’ll call the school tomorrow. Hopefully they still have the video footage. And I’ll need all their reports on the incident.” Xavier made himself another note. “So you’re not in contact with any of your family?”

“Actually, my brother Shane and I are in contact,” Bayley explained. “He and his family live in Sydney, Australia. But we had a joint vacation in Hawaii last August.”

“Let him know what’s going on and that I may need to contact him,” Xavier advised. “Give Alicia his contact information.” When Bayley nodded, he gently smiled. “I just want to be prepared in case we get a judge that allows Heyman to try to do all this.” He sat back in his chair. “Finally, make a list of people who can testify about the boys’ home life and health. Their pediatrician. Teachers. Friends.”

“And I’ll start investigating on this end,” AJ assured them. He saw the look in Roman’s eyes and continued, “Look, I’ve got four kids of my own. If somebody was tryin’ to take one of them, I’d be seriously looking into what countries don’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S. Heyman and his people will try to push you. Don’t let them. Take the subpoena and walk away. Refer them to your attorney.”

“Don’t let them make you play their game,” Xavier warned. “We’ll make them play ours.”

Bayley squeezed Roman’s hand.

Roman let out a deep breath and nodded. “I know. You’re right. It’s just…hard.”

 

“Mommy! Daddy!”

Seth jumped up from where he and Dean had been playing with Cookie and ran to hug his Daddy’s leg.

Roman grinned and picked him up. Hugging him, he asked, “You guys been good for Aunt Sasha?”

Seth nodded. “We ate cookies and drank all our milk. Then we’ve been playing with Cookie so Aunt Sasha could work.”

“That’s my boy.” Roman hugged him again then put him down. “Get your backpack so we can go. You guys can ride with me to pick up dinner from Captain D’s while Mommy goes on home.”

Seth’s dark eyes widened. “Dean! We get Capt’n D’s!”

Roman received a quick hug on his other leg from his older enthusiastic son. Gathering his sons and their backpacks, he waved to Sasha who was sitting on the couch with Bayley. “We’ll see you at home,” he told Bayley.

Bayley nodded, smiling at her sons’ excited chatter as Roman closed the door behind him. She sighed when Sasha put a hand on her arm.

“Bad news?”

Bayley rubbed her face and explained.

Anger flashed across Sasha’s face. “What can I do?” she finally asked.

“Xavier is concerned that Roman will be served at work, and I’ll be served when I’m out with the boys,” Bayley admitted.

“At school.” Sasha’s dark eyes flashed her fury.

“His investigator, Mr. Styles, is going to meet me there every day until I’m served,” Bayley explained.

“Good. And if he can’t, you call me; and I’ll be there,” Sasha promised.

“You have dead…”

“Screw the deadlines,” Sasha snarled. “You guys are more important. You need to stay calm, and the boys don’t need to know anything about this.”

“Dean’s getting so much better,” Bayley half-whispered. “He hasn’t woken up screaming for a couple of weeks. He told Dr. Kingston the monsters aren’t so bad.”

“That, Seth, and the baby are what you need to concentrate on.” Sasha gently hugged her best friend. “Dean’s birthday party is this Saturday so let’s just plan on that. He’s taking the invitations to school, isn’t he?”

Bayley nodded and took a deep breath. “There are four children he and Seth play with all the time so they’re coming.”

“Okay, that’s what we focus on.” Sasha patted Bayley’s hand. “I’m having dinner with Antonio tonight. Do you want me to tell him what’s going on?” She saw Bayley’s uncertain look and continued, “I’m thinking he might be able to come up with a way to keep somebody from barging into Roman’s office or something.”

“The building’s got pretty good security,” Bayley pointed out.

Sasha shrugged. “Antonio’s in the security business. He might be able to do a little more.”

Bayley nodded. “Do it. If it’ll help Roman, I’m all for it.”

 

The _Le Monde Bistro_ hadn’t been open for business very long. But the owner prided himself on providing cuisine from around the world while providing a picturesque dining experience close to the beach. Classy without being pretentious, Antonio felt it was the perfect place to take Sasha for their first dinner date. Sasha, however, appeared to be preoccupied so after placing their orders, Antonio decided to grab the proverbial bull by the proverbial horns.

“Would you like to discuss what’s on your mind now or wait until after we’ve dined?”

Sasha flushed. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I **do** need to talk with you about something. I was trying not to spoil our dinner.”

Antonio raised an eyebrow. “Unless you need to tell me about a current boyfriend or husband, I think we can discuss it now.”

“Oh, God, no! Nothing like that,” Sasha chuckled. Then she leaned forward and lowered her voice. “The attorney who handled Dean’s adoption called Bayley and Roman. They met with him this afternoon. Dean’s birth mother is petitioning to have the adoption reversed.”

Antonio frowned. “I thought they adopted Dean when he was a baby?”

Sasha nodded. “They did. Bayley didn’t give me any details. I watched Seth and Dean while they were at the attorneys. Bayley’s frantic to keep this from both of them but especially from Dean.”

Antonio stared out at the water. “I admit I know nothing about the adoption laws in this country,” he finally spoke. “But once an adoption is final, **can** it be reversed?”

“Apparently, she’s claiming she was pressured or coerced by Social Services,” Sasha recalled. “I think Bayley mentioned she’d been under the influence of drugs. I know Dean was removed from his birth parents when they were arrested.”

“Incredible.” Antonio slowly shook his head. “While I can see a parent trying to recover a child if they’ve straightened up their lives, I wonder if this woman has considered the harm this would do to Dean?” He slowly sipped his drink.

“Roman’s going to talk with you tomorrow, but Bayley and I kinda thought I should let you know beforehand because…”

Antonio smiled. “Because?”

Sasha sighed. “Apparently this woman’s attorney is a jerk. Bayley’s attorney thinks they’ll be served with papers pretty publicly. Roman at work. Bayley when she’s out with the boys.”

Antonio muttered something under his breath. Sasha didn’t understand it, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t complimentary.

“I can notify building security that anyone wanting to come to our offices must be met in the lobby and escorted up,” he decided. “If someone comes to serve Roman, I’ll go down with him as a witness if he permits.”

“That would be great,” Sasha sighed. “Roman’s a pretty laid-back guy, but Bayley’s scared he’ll lose his temper.”

Antonio nodded. “What about Bayley? She’s pregnant. She doesn’t need the stress of a confrontation.”

“Their lawyer has an investigator who’ll be working on the case. He said he’d meet Bayley at school every day until she’s served,” Sasha explained. “I told her if he can’t, then I will.”

“Good,” Antonio nodded. “I can be available as well.”

Sasha smiled at him. “Thanks. You’re a good friend.”

Antonio decided he really liked Sasha’s smile.

 

The next morning, Roman knocked on Antonio’s half-open door. “Do you have a few mintues?” he quietly asked.

“Of course, come in. Close the door.” Antonio motioned to the nearby Keurig. “Coffee?”

“No, thanks.” Roman closed the door and sat down.

“Before you start, I have a confession to make and a request,” Antonio began.

“Oh?” Roman asked in confusion.

Antonio looked a little uneasy. “I had dinner with Sasha last night. A very nice one, in fact. You and Bayley must try _Le Monde Bistro_ sometime.” 

_‘Dinner? Sasha? What the hell?’_

“Anyway, Sasha told me about the situation with Dean’s adoption.” He held up a hand. “Please don’t be angry with Sasha. She was…upset and needed to talk about it. I certainly don’t mean to pry into your business.”

“No, no, it’s okay. That’s what I was going to talk to you about anyway,” Roman admitted.

“Sasha said Bayley told her your attorney was concerned about the two of you being confronted in public and being served,” Antonio explained. When Roman nodded, he continued. “I’ve taken steps to ensure that no one can come up from the lobby to the office without an escort. As you know, everyone has to sign in at the lobby security desk. If someone wants to come up to the office, security will call whoever they are wanting to see. That person will go down and escort them up.”

“So if someone comes to serve me with legal papers, I’ll get the call,” Roman nodded.

“And, if you please, call me so I can accompany you as a witness,” Antonio added.

Roman half-smiled. “Or help me keep my temper in check.”

Antonio shrugged. “If it were me, I’d want someone reminding me not to lose my temper.”

Roman grimaced, then nodded. “Thank you. I’m sorry you’ve gotten drawn into this mess.”

“Nonsense!” Antonio dismissively waved his hand. “I like to think we’re friends. Certainly, I would be more than happy to go to court on Dean’s behalf.” He smiled. “Besides, I promised Sasha.”

_‘Sasha! Oh, my God!’_

 

By eleven o’clock, Bayley couldn’t stand it any longer. She knew she was probably waking her brother up far too early, but she needed to talk with him. Curling up on the sofa, she dialed his number. After a few rings, Shane McMahon answered the phone sounding far more awake than she’d anticipated.

“Hey, Sis! Has Dean’s birthday gift gotten there yet?”

“Hi, Shane. No, but I’m sure he’ll enjoy it whenever it does,” Bayley answered. “Did I wake you?”

“Nah. I was awake and heading downstairs to work out a little. But I’d much rather talk with you. What’s up?” Shane threw himself into the recliner in the den.

“Oh, Shane…”

Shane immediately sat up in concern. “Bayley, what’s wrong. The baby…”

“The baby’s fine,” Bayley whispered. “It’s…it’s Dean.”

Shane was aghast to hear his sister’s soft sobs. He jumped to his feet and ran upstairs to the master bedroom. Reaching the bed, he shook his sleeping wife awake. “Bayley…calm down. You need to calm down.”

Becky sat up, rubbing her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Shane shrugged and sat on the side of the bed. “Bayley…”

“They’re trying to take Dean,” Bayley sobbed.

“Who’s trying to take Dean?” Shane punched the speaker button on his phone so Becky could listen.

Bayley took a deep breath. “Dean’s birth mother is trying to get the adoption reversed. She’s claiming Social Services pressured her into waiving away her rights, and she wasn’t in her right mind because she’d been using drugs.”

**“You have got to be kidding me!”** Shane yelled.

“Hush!” Becky gave him a stern look. “Bayley needs to calm down not have you get her all riled up,” she hissed. Raising her voice, she spoke, “Bayley, what does the attorney say? You’ve talked to him, right?”

“Yeah. He said that the Social Services worker videotaped everything. So that should show there wasn’t any pressure.” Bayley took a deep breath. “But if she was under the influence of drugs, it might make a difference. Xavier seems to think a lot depends on the judge we get.”

“Shouldn’t there be some medical records about her condition at the time?” Shane asked. “Obviously, law enforcement got involved when Dean was removed from her.”

“He and his investigator are looking into that…and everything else.” Bayley rubbed her face. “I’m sorry, Shane. I just needed to…”

“I’m your big brother, Bayley,” Shane soothingly replied. “You don’t need to explain.”

“Bayley, you need to calm down,” Becky urged. “Not just for that baby you’re carrying but also for Dean and Seth and Roman.”

“I know. I’m actually better than I was yesterday,” Bayley half-laughed. “Anyway, I wanted to let you know and Xavier, our attorney, wanted your contact information since we were all on vacation a few months ago. I hope it was okay to give it to him.”

“Of course, it is,” Becky assured her. And we want you to keep us in the loop. We’ll do whatever you need us to do.”

“Thanks, Becky…Shane. And I’ll let you know when Dean’s birthday gift gets here,” Bayley promised. “His party is Saturday.”

“We’ll give him a call then to wish him Happy Birthday,” Becky promised.

“Bye.”

As soon as Bayley hung up, Shane tossed his phone on the bed. **“FUCKING HELL!”**

**“SHANE!”** Becky remonstrated.

Shane threw up his hands in aggravation and grunted.

“We’ll do whatever we can,” Becky soothed him. “You know that.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe someone would do that to Dean.”

“Do what to Dean?”

Startled, Becky looked at the open doorway to see her son and daughter looking at them in confusion. 

Shane groaned at Finn’s words.

“We heard you yelling,” Paige pointed out.

“Come here.” Becky motioned them towards the bed. When they’d settled down onto the bed, she calmly told them what was going on.

**“BLOODY WANKERS!”**

**“PAIGE!”**

“They can’t do it, can they? Take Dean away?” Finn looked at his father.

Shane sighed. “Honestly, I don’t see how. Even if Dean’s mother has cleaned up from being on drugs, there’s no way she can provide as good a home and family for him that Bayley and Roman have done. Not to mention the problems it would create for Dean emotionally to be taken away from the only family he’s ever known.”

“Does he know?”

“No. Bayley and Roman are adamant that he not know about it,” Becky explained. “They don’t want him to be upset or scared.”

“So, when we call Dean on his birthday this weekend, do **not** mention anything about this,” Shane ordered. “I mean it.”

“We won’t!” Finn protested. “We wouldn’t!”

Shane sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just…upset right now.”

“Okay, it’s too early for the two of you to be up. Both of you. Back to bed,” Becky ordered. She waited until she heard both bedroom doors close. “They won’t say anything, but we’ll remind them just before calling to make sure.”

Shane climbed back into bed and rested his head on Becky’s shoulder. 

Becky wrapped her arms around him and held him close to her. **_‘Bloody wankers’_**.

 

“Roman Reigns.”

“This is Eric at the front security desk. You have a visitor. He says he’s here to deliver some legal documents.”

“Thanks, I’ll be right down.” Roman disconnected the call, then dialed Antonio’s extension. “I just got the call.”

“I’ll meet you at the elevator.”

Roman stood and straightened his shirt and tie. He put on his jacket and took several deep breaths. “Game face on,” he muttered.

Both he and Antonio were silent and grim-faced as they rode down the elevator. The two walked shoulder-to-shoulder to the security desk where a tall dark-haired bearded man waited.

“I’m Roman Reigns,” Roman announced.

“Wade Barrett,” Wade loudly announced. “You’re served with legal documents and a subpoena in a child custody case.” He thrust a large envelope into Roman’s hands and smirked.

Despite himself, Antonio rolled his eyes at the man’s vocal theatrics.

“Do you have…”

“Call my attorney.” Roman shoved Xavier’s business card into Barrett’s hands and walked away.

“I believe your business here is concluded,” Antonio pleasantly spoke. He nodded meaningfully at the security guards then followed Roman.

Wade glanced at the two security guards then nodded and turned to walk out of the building.

In the elevator, Antonio glanced at Roman then quietly spoke. “Well done.”

Roman loudly exhaled as though he’d been holding his breath. “I need to call Xavier and Bayley. I need to make sure AJ is going to be at the school.”

“Why don’t you take care of that? I’ll call Bayley so she knows you’ve been served. Then you can call her,” Antonio suggested.

After a few seconds, Roman nodded. “Thanks.”

 

“Styles.”

“Please tell me you’re on the way to Gulfside Academy; and if you’re not, get your ass over there right now.”

AJ raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the side of his truck. “Havin’ a bad morning, Alicia?”

“That fucker Barrett just served Roman at his office,” Alicia growled.

“The boss called it,” AJ sighed. “Any problems there?”

“No, Roman and his boss met the fucker in the lobby. Roman took the papers and handed over the boss’ card then walked away.” 

AJ heard a very evil chuckle that raised the hair on the back of his neck. 

“Hope it pissed the fucker off,” she commented.

“Do you kiss your grandmother with that mouth?” AJ curiously asked. “And before you blow a gasket, I’m in the parking lot at Gulfside Academy. I’ve got an appointment with the principal. Do you know if the boss called about the video footage and records that we need?”

“He did just before he blew out of here late for court,” Alicia snorted. “I don’t know what the answer was though.”

AJ patted his pocket. “Well, I’ve got the subpoena just in case. Can you call Bayley and let her know I’m already here?”

“Will do. I’d tell you to kick Barrett’s motherfucking ass, but it’d probably send the wrong message to the kids.” With that Alicia disconnected the call.

“I gotta tell the boss to switch the coffee to decaf,” AJ muttered as he walked across the parking lot.

 

“Mr. Styles, I’m Daniel Bryan, the principal. This is Joey Mercury, our assistant principal.”

AJ shook the hand of a smiling young man then the hand of a more solemn looking man. “I appreciate you seeing me so quickly,” he said as they sat down. The conference room was small but comfortable and nicely decorated. “I’m not sure what you’ve been told but I have a subpoena here for some specific video footage and records about a specific incident regarding an altercation between Dean Ambrose and some other students.” He put the subpoena on the table.

Joey reached for it and began to read.

“Bayley told me that Dean’s adoption is being contested,” Daniel admitted. “I believe you’re referring to the fight between Dean and his cousins?”

When AJ nodded, Joey looked up and nodded. “I’ll get a copy of the footage and the records now.” He quietly left the room.

“Our video footage is recycled every month. But we keep video footage of all incidents…well, pretty much in perpetuity,” Daniel laughed. “That old warning about ‘your permanent record’? Well, it sort of **does** exist.”

AJ chuckled. “I’m pretty sure mine would’ve been the size of a novel,” he admitted.

Daniel grinned. “I’m assuming we’ll also get a subpoena from the attorney representing Dean’s birth mother?”

“Probably,” AJ nodded. “At the very least, you’ll be asked to give a deposition about Dean’s attendance and any problems in school.”

“I’ve asked Dean’s teacher, Ms. Flair, to meet me after school so I can brief her as well.” Daniel’s blue eyes grew serious. “Dean doesn’t know, does he?”

AJ shook his head. “And his parents don’t want him to know either. Him or his brother.”

Daniel silently nodded.

“Are you aware that Dean’s mother is pregnant?” AJ carefully asked. He was surprised when Daniel began laughing.

“Oh, yes. Pretty much everyone in pre-K knows that,” he explained. “Dean’s brother, Seth, announced very loudly and bragged about it quite often for a few days.”

“Just as I got here, I was notified that Dean’s father was served legal papers regarding his case,” AJ explained. “He was served at work.” 

Daniel’s eyes narrowed as he leaned back in his chair.

“We…my boss and staff…know the opposing attorney, Paul Heyman,” AJ continued. “He’s ruthless. So having someone publicly served at their place of work is just standard procedure for him. Since Bayley picks up her kids every day…”

“Someone would try to serve her in the parking lot as classes are dismissed,” Daniel guessed.

AJ nodded. “Parents coming and going. Kids running. School buses. Your people have to keep an eye on a lot of things.”

“You’re going to be here until she’s served.” Daniel guessed. When AJ silently nodded, he sighed. “As soon as Joey’s back, I’ll take you to the security office so they’ll be familiar with you. A new face one day or the next wouldn’t necessarily raise a red flag. But someone hanging around every day would.” He slowly smiled. “Tell your boss that we’ll cooperate every way we can.”

 

“A party, Uncle Cass! Dean’s birthday party! I can go, right?”

Cass smiled down at his nephew who bounced as they walked across the parking lot. “I don’t see why not. We’ll go shopping tomorrow for a nice gift. You give it some thought, okay?”

Enzo eagerly nodded, continuing to skip and bounce as they walked.

Cass squeezed his nephew’s hand then slowed down as he saw an unfamiliar man approaching Bayley. It was the look on Bayley’s face that concerned him. He glanced around then spoke up when he saw Alexa’s mother. “Jeanne! Can you watch Enzo for a second?” When she nodded, he released Enzo’s hand. “Go talk with Alexa for a minute. I’ll be right back.”

On the other side of the row of cars, AJ silently cursed. _‘Bastard’s driving a Lexus now? Dammit!’_

Bayley automatically stepped in front of both Dean and Seth. The boys’ chatter slowly died out as they stared at the man who stood in front of their Mommy.

“Mrs. Reigns?” Barrett’s eyes flickered down to the two boys, and he coldly smiled.

“Yes.” Bayley stiffened her spine. 

“You’ve been…”

“Lower your voice. Say only what you’re **supposed** to say. Give the papers to the lady and then walk away.”

Hearing the words spoken with a Georgian drawl, Barrett turned his head unsurprised to see AJ standing behind him. “Styles,” he growled. The two men locked eyes for a few seconds.

“I’m not kiddin’,’ AJ warned. “You’re not doin’ this here.”

Barrett shrugged then he turned back around. “Mrs. Reigns, you’ve been served,” he said in a quiet voice.

Bayley took the papers and gripped them tightly in her hand. 

Barrett smirked. “What? Not handing me your lawyer’s business card?” He heard AJ snarling and smirked at him as well.

“Bayley, is there a problem?”

Barrett turned to look at the man who spoke…and then looked up. A tall man himself, he found himself nearly dwarfed by the other man’s height.

“Yeah, Barrett, is there a problem?” AJ grinned.

Barrett glared at AJ. “I’ll see you around, Styles.”

“Yeah, like **that’s** much of a threat,” AJ muttered, watching as Barrett walked off. Then he stepped closer to Bayley. “Put the papers in your purse. You don’t need the boys to see them,” he quietly spoke.

Bayley took a deep breath and nodded. “William Cassady, this is A. J. Styles.” As the two men shook hands, she shoved the papers into her purse.

“Mommy?”

Bayley looked around at the sound of Seth’s worried voice. “It’s okay, Seth. He’s just a pesky salesman. I’ll give the stuff to Daddy to look at later tonight.”

Dean rubbed his nose as he stared at the man next to his Mommy.

AJ dropped to one knee. “Hey, do you guys go to school here? I’ve got kids and was wondering about this place.”

Dean and Seth exchanged a look with their Mommy who nodded.

“Yeah, it’s fun,” Dean answered.

“I know my kids are gonna ask, so what’s the playground like? How’s the food in the cafeteria?” AJ grinned.

As the boys began bragging about their school, Bayley stepped closer to Cass. “I can’t talk about it now. But can I call you later tonight? When the kids are in bed?”

“Sure,” Cass nodded. “Are you okay to drive?”

Bayley nodded and smiled.

Cass grinned, then walked away.

“Well, I’m gonna talk with the principal; but I thought I’d check with you guys to get your opinion,” AJ explained.

“Guys, this is Mr. Styles. He’s a friend of mine and Daddy,” Bayley explained. She saw the slow smile appear on AJ’s face and grinned. “This is Seth. And this is Dean.”

“Hello.” Dean held out his hand.

AJ grinned and shook first Dean’s hand and then Seth’s. “Good talking with you, guys.” He waited until Bayley had gotten the boys into the SUV and started to drive away before walking back towards the school. With any luck there was video footage of Barrett serving Bayley. He’d have no other legitimate reason to be around her and the boys again. But it wouldn’t hurt to have security on the lookout for him.

 

Bayley gratefully smiled when Joey and Daniel met her at the front door of the pre-K side of the building. She’d been balancing trays of cupcakes and wondering how she was going to get the door open. 

“Glad you called to say when you’d be here,” Joey smiled. “I’m not sure how you would have gotten in.”

“Me either,” Bayley chuckled. “There are extras so feel free to help yourselves.”

Daniel’s blue eyes twinkled. “Awesome. Dean’s birthday is actually tomorrow, right?”

Bayley nodded as they walked down the corridor to the classrooms. “He’s excited that he gets his party on his birthday.”

Joey nodded. “That always made it special for me when I was a kid.”

Daniel laughed. “I never understood why I didn’t get two parties. One on my real birthday and then one on the weekend with family and friends.” He balanced the tray and knocked on the Dolphins’ closed classroom door.

Charlotte Flair opened the door partway, then grinned. She opened the door all the way and turned to the class. “We have a surprise!” she announced.

Seth giggled when he saw his Mommy follow Miss Charlotte to the drawing table. The rest of the class watched with curious and excited looks as Daniel and Joey followed, all carrying trays.

“This is Dean and Seth’s mother, and she’s brought us…cupcakes!” Daniel announced as he placed two trays on the table. “Because tomorrow is Dean’s birthday. And we can celebrate with him today.”

Dean’s eyes widened in surprise then he slowly smiled as shouts of “Happy Birthday” rang out from the other students.

“The other trays are for the Flamingoes,” Bayley explained.

Seth’s tongue licked his lips in anticipation. “Cupcakes, Dean!”

Charlotte laughed. “And what do we say?”

“Thank you, Dean’s mother…Seth’s mother.” The words straggled out as the children eagerly eyed the trays.

“We’ll enjoy them at snack time,” Charlotte promised.

Bayley walked to Dean and kissed the top of his head. “Enjoy it, honey,” she whispered. 

Dean silently nodded.

Bayley then walked to Seth and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Mommy.”

“Dean looked thrilled,” Daniel grinned as they walked across the hall to Mickie’s classroom.

“It’s cupcakes. The entire class was thrilled,” Joey dryly remarked.

The Flamingoes were equally thrilled.

 

“Dean! Dean! Wake up!”

Dean sleepily grunted.

“C’mon, Dean!” This time the words were accompanied by a push to his back.

Groaning, Dean pushed the sheet back and rolled over. “What?” he grumpily asked.

Seth grinned down at him. **“Happy Birthday!** ” he shouted, spreading his arms wide.

Yorkie gave a small yip then began licking Dean’s face.

Dean started laughing and hugged the puppy.

“Sounds like somebody’s awake.” Roman chuckled as he entered the boys’ bedroom. He leaned down and kissed Dean’s forehead. “Happy Birthday, Dean.”

“Thank you.” Dean grinned at his Daddy as he patted Yorkie’s wiggling body.

“What would you like for breakfast? It’s your birthday so you can pick,” Roman promised.

Dean’s blue eyes widened. After a moment, he blurted out, “Waffles! And bacon!”

Seth’s tongue licked his lips.

“Wow, that’s amazing! Mommy’s fixing waffles and bacon!” Roman looked astonished.

**“YEAY!** ” Seth bounced excitedly on the bed.

 

Bayley turned from the table as the boys bounced into the kitchen. “Happy Birthday!” She wrapped her arms around Dean and tightly squeezed him.

“Thank you, Mommy,” Dean softly replied, returning the hug.

Seth scrambled up to the table and looked around expectedly.

Bayley chuckled and gave him a kiss on his forehead. “Hungry?”

“I love waffles, Mommy!”

“And bacon!” Dean added.

“They’re almost ready.” Bayley assured him. “Roman, can you get the orange juice?”

“Sure.” Roman opened the refrigerator door and grabbed the juice container. He brought it to the table and poured some in each of the boys’ cups.

Bayley carried a large plate of waffles to the table then went back for the bacon.

“Waffles!” Seth cheered while Dean clapped.

 

The boys were outside, arranging toys in the sandbox for the party when Seth stopped and stared at his brother. “What’s it feel like?” he curiously asked.

“Huh?” 

“Bein’ five,” Seth explained.

Dean stood up and rubbed his arm. He thought for a few seconds then shrugged. “I dunno. I don’t feel any diff’rent.” He hesitated, then frowned. “Do I look diff’rent?”

“No.” Seth shook his head. “You look the same.”

Dean’s face scrunched up as he thought. “Maybe I got a little bigger?”

Seth’s eyes widened, and he took a few steps so he stood side-by-side with his brother. Carefully looking, he nodded. “Yeah. Little bit.”

“You’ll get bigger when you’re five,” Dean confidently told him.

“Good.”

 

Cass stayed for the party. As he told Roman with a shake of his head, “Six kids all excited about a party with only two adults, and one of them pregnant?” Roman had laughed, then nodded.

Roman stood at the grill, carefully watching the burgers he was grilling for himself and Cass and the vegetable-beef shish-ka-bobs he was grilling for the kids and Bayley. Cass sat in a nearby lounge chair, keeping an eye on the kids who were running in all directions in the backyard. 

“By the way,” Roman said in a low voice. “Thanks for backing up Bayley the other day when she was served.”

Cass, who’d been brought up to date by Bayley in the promised phone call, shrugged. “No problem. Styles seemed to have it in hand, but to be honest? I wouldn’t have minded shoving that idiot into the trunk of the car.”

Roman chuckled. “I know the feeling,” he admitted.

Cass glanced once again at the yard where Enzo was nimbly climbing up the jungle gym with Nia following him. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll wait until Bayley comes out with Dean and Seth at the school. Enzo and I’ll walk them to the car.”

Roman smiled. “That would take a load off my mind,” he admitted. “There shouldn’t be any reason for anyone to bother her now that she’s been served, but…” He heard Seth squeal as he chased a ball Alexa had thrown. The ball rolled toward the deck, and Seth stopped it with his foot and picked it up.

Cass grunted. “Anybody bastard enough to pull that kind of a stunt in front of kids will stoop to anything.”

Seth threw the ball back to Alexa. _‘Wonder what ‘bastard’ means?’_

__

__

 

“Mr. Roman, can you teach Uncle Cass to make these?” Enzo pleaded. He excitedly looked at his uncle. “These are **so** good!”

Cass chuckled as Enzo waved his third shish-ka-bob in the air. “Careful,” he warned.

Roman grinned. “I’ll give him the instructions,” he promised. He watched as Enzo finished it and dropped the skewer onto his plate.

Bayley saw the others were done and started picking up the plates. Immediately Roman and Cass began to help.

Dean looked expectedly as his Mommy. He remembered his last birthday, and there had been cake. He looked around the deck for it. _‘No cake? Maybe in the kitchen?’_ He watched his Mommy and Daddy go into the kitchen while Enzo’s uncle made sure everyone had enough napkins to clean their hands and faces.

“Okay, Dean. Time for presents!” Bayley announced.

Dean’s blue eyes widened in glee as his Mommy and Daddy set wrapped boxes in front of him. Seth giggled and Enzo and the girls clapped.

“Mine! Open mine!” Enzo demanded.

“Enzo,” Cass warned. “Manners.”

“Open mine, please!”

Cass sighed and pointed to a brightly wrapped box.

Dean tore into the wrapping to reveal a child’s sized baseball glove. He grinned at his friend. “Thanks, Enzo! Daddy, we can play catch now!” Before Seth could pout, he turned to his brother. “You can borrow it.” 

“Hold it up so I can get a picture,” Bayley requested. “We can send the pictures of your gifts to Uncle Shane and Aunt Becky.”

Dean widely grinned and proudly held up his gift.

Asuka gave him a baseball cap with the NASA logo on it. Nia’s gift was the game of UNO. Alexa’s gift was a huge box of crayons and a pad of drawing paper. Seth’s gift was a storybook about a puppy who went into outer space.

“I sense a conspiracy,” Bayley hissed to Roman, who chuckled under his breath.

From his parents, Dean got a new pair of sneakers and a new jacket. There was even a gift from Yorkie of a small ball, just the right size for a puppy to chase when thrown.

Dean looked up from the stack of gifts. “Thank you,” he quietly spoke.

**“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”** the other kids shouted.

Cass cleared the trash off the table while Bayley and Roman carried the gifts inside. 

Dean tried not to be disappointed at not getting a cake. When Enzo squirmed in his chair, Cass motioned for him not to get up.

“Oh, Dean…”

Dean turned his head when he heard his Mommy’s sing-song words. His mouth opened wide as he saw his Daddy bringing out a cake with five lit candles on it. As everyone sang _Happy Birthday_ , he continued to stare at the cake. “My cake,” he whispered.

“Make a wish and blow out the candles,” Bayley laughed.

Dean took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then opened them and blew hard. Four candles went out quickly while one momentarily flickered then died out.

The kids cheered.

“What kind of cake is it?” Alexa curiously asked.

“What kind did you want, Dean?” Roman asked as Bayley started to cut.

“Um…chocolate?”

“Just chocolate?” Roman teased.

Dean gasped as his Mommy put a plate in front of him. “Ice cream cake!” he shouted. “Chocolate…and chocolate chip ice cream!”

While the other kids cheered, Seth licked his lips.

 

After their guests had left, they sat around the kitchen table with the opened game of UNO. Roman, unfamiliar with the game, sat reading the instructions while the boys examined the cards. Bayley was just sitting down when the front doorbell rang.

Roman immediately got up. “I’ll get it.”

Bayley nodded. She silently watched the boys talking about the cards until she heard Roman’s voice.

“Dean? You have a package.”

Dean looked up in surprise. He saw his Mommy start to smile. He got down from the table, and Seth followed him into the living room. A box sat on the coffee table.

“What is it, Daddy?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know,” Roman answered. “But if you look right there…” He pointed to a corner of the box. “That’s who sent it.”

“S H A N E…Shha…Shane! Uncle Shane!” Dean exclaimed.

“I think Uncle Shane, Aunt Becky, Finn, and Paige sent you a birthday gift,” Roman chuckled.

“Wow!” Seth’s eyes widened. “From As’tral’ya?”

“Australia, honey,” Bayley gently corrected him. “Let me get the box open, okay?” She carefully cut the packing tape, then stepped back. “Open it, Dean.”

Dean opened the box only to see another box. He looked up in confusion at his Daddy.

“Okay, this box is to protect what’s inside,” Roman explained. “Let me get it out.” He reached in and pulled out the smaller box.

Bayley’s eyes widened. _‘I swear it **is** a conspiracy!’_

“Oh, wow, Dean. Look at this!” Roman grinned.

“What is it, Daddy?” Dean curiously asked.

“You’ll love this,” Roman eagerly promised. “When it’s dark, like in your room at night, this will make stars appear on the ceiling.”

Seth frowned and Dean looked skeptical.

“C’mon! I’ll show you!” Roman led the way to the half-bathroom. “Okay, it’s as dark as we can get right now. No windows to let in light, and we’ll turn off the overhead light and shut the door.”

Bayley watched in amusement as Dean helped Roman open the box and set up the projector. She inwardly sighed as she closed the door, making the room a dusky dark.

“Push the button, then look up” Roman urged.

Dean pushed the red button, then looked up. He gasped in surprise, one hand covering his mouth.

“Stars,” Seth whispered in awe. “Dean…stars!”

Bayley saw the emotion on Dean’s face. She leaned down and kissed the top of Dean’s head. Then she opened the door. “Come on, Seth. Let’s set up the UNO game.” She took her younger son’s hand, and they walked down the hallway.

“They love me,” Dean whispered. “They gotta. They sent…this.”

Roman hugged his son. “Yeah, Dean. They love you. We all love you.” After a few moments, he pushed the button; and the stars disappeared. “Why don’t we go call them so you can thank them?”

 

Shane looked from his phone to his family eating breakfast. “It’s Aunt Bayley,” he announced. “Dean’s present may have gotten there. Remember, don’t say anything about what’s going on.”

Finn solemnly nodded and Paige murmured “We won’t.”

Shane answered the phone. “Hi, Sis! Did something arrive?”

“Yeah. Hang on. Somebody wants to talk with you guys.”

Shane put his phone on the table and put it on speaker.

“Uncle Shane?” Dean’s voice sounded hesitant.

“Hi, Dean! Happy Birthday!” Shane greeted.

“Happy Birthday!” Finn and Paige shouted.

“Happy Birthday, Dean!” Becky added.

“Thank you! Thank you for my gift!” Dean excitedly spoke. “You…you gave me stars!”

“It’s great! Right?” Finn demanded.

“Yeah! I can’t wait to see it at dark!” There was a moment of silence. “I really like it,” Dean said in a fervent tone.

“Good!” Becky laughed. “I’m glad it got there in time.”

“You know, Dean, the stars in the sky when you were born were for the constellation Sagittarius,” Shane explained. “Did you know that?”

“Noooo,” Dean’s voice was uncertain.

“Sagittarius is an archer,” Shane continued. “That means he shoots a bow and arrow. He was half-man and half-horse. Called a centaur.”

“Wow.”

“Have your Mommy or Daddy read the instructions, and they can set it up so you can see Sagittarius.”

“Daddy! Did you hear?” Dean shouted.

“I’ll did. We’ll see Sagittarius,” Roman’s voice replied.

“Uncle Shane, here’s Mommy. She wants to talk to you.”

**“Hi, Seth!”** Paige suddenly screamed.

“Paige!” Becky quietly hissed.

“Hi, Paige!” Seth’s laughing voice answered.

Paige nodded in satisfaction, a wide grin on her face as she saw Finn rubbing both ears.

“Okay, Dean, let me talk with your Mommy,” Shane requested. “You have a good birthday, okay?”

“I will.” There was a hesitation. Shane expected to hear Bayley’s voice, but then Dean quickly said, “Thank you again. I…I love you.”

“We love you, Dean,” Becky replied.

Seconds later, Bayley’s voice came on the line. “Shane.”

Becky snickered at the stern tone in her sister-in-law’s voice and motioned for her children to settle down and eat their breakfast.

Shane took the phone off speaker and walked into the next room. “Now, Bayley…”

Bayley sighed. “My baby’s going to Mars, isn’t he?”

“Well, mine has the same idea so misery loves company.”

 

Bayley walked back into the living room and saw Roman reading the instructions on Dean’s gift. She waited until he looked up at her, then crossed her arms over her chest.

“I didn’t have anything to do with this.” Roman quickly protested his innocence.

Bayley slowly smiled. “I know. I’m just gonna hope he changes his mind,” she sighed. 

“Mommy! Daddy! Let’s play YUNO!” Seth called from the kitchen.

“OOONO,” Dean corrected.

“Yeah, OOONO!”

 

Dean was so eager to see the stars on the ceiling that he didn’t mind Seth had demonstrated a definite mastery of the game of UNO. In five games, Dean had been left holding a stack of cards in four of them. Daddy had mentioned something about teaching Seth how to play a game called Blackjack, but Mommy had said no.

Now he and Seth lay on their beds, with Yorkie for once curled up in his bed. Mostly because Bayley lay with Dean while Roman was in Seth’s bed. Cubby sat in a corner at the foot of Dean’s bed. The projector sat on the floor between the beds, both boys having been warned about it being there and not knocking it over.

“Okay, Dean.” Roman glanced at his older son. “Ready?”

Dean eagerly nodded. 

Roman leaned down and pushed the button.

Seth gasped as stars appeared on the ceiling.

Bayley saw Dean’s eyes grow wide in complete and utter awe. “Where’s Saja..ja..”

“Sagittarius is coming up,” Roman promised. 

In just a few seconds, a white line began connecting various stars; and a picture formed of a half-man half-horse archer with a bow and arrow.

“Wow!” Seth marveled.

“There’s Sagittarius,” Bayley murmured. “That’s your sign, Dean. The archer who watches over you.”

Dean glanced at his Mommy with an unspoken plea.

Bayley kissed him gently on the forehead.

“What stars were in the sky for me when I was born?” Seth curiously asked.

“That would be Gemini, honey,” Bayley answered. “The twins.”

“Twins?”

“One twin looks forward and is curious, always asking questions,” Bayley explained. “The other twin looks backwards to remember what came before.”

“We can set that up some other night,” Roman promised.

“What’s yours, Daddy?” Seth asked.

“Gemini, just like you, Seth,” Roman answered. “And so is Mommy.”

Dean stiffened. _‘Nobody’s like me ‘cause I’m…_ ’

Bayley hugged him. “My special boy,” she whispered.

“Special?” Dean whispered back. He heard Seth giggle at something his Daddy had said.

“Yeah.” Bayley kissed his cheek. “Very special.”

 

A few hours later, Roman quietly opened the door to the boys’ bedroom. He saw Seth sprawled out on Dean’s bed, fast asleep. Yorkie lay stretched out across the foot of Seth’s bed. But Dean was still awake.

He watched as Dean’s hand reached up as though to touch the stars. Then he began tracing what Roman knew was the constellation Sagittarius. The look on the face of his older son was that of someone who’d just been presented with all the magic in the universe.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Roman and Bayley realized that for the first time, Dean hadn’t slept wrapped up in a sheet for protection.

 

The next day, Sasha showed up with a wrapped package for Dean. “Happy Birthday, champ!” She gave Dean a kiss on his forehead and wrapped him in a tight hug. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to your party yesterday.”

“That’s okay,” Dean nodded. “Mommy said you had a deadline.”

“I did, and thankfully, it’s over and done.” She handed a wrapped box to Dean and grinned at Bayley. “Never dealing with her again.”

Dean quickly unwrapped the box then laughed out loud. “Legos! Look, Seth! Legos!”

Seth leaned closer to look at the box. “Wow! We can build a lotta stuff with these!”

“There’s a book inside with pictures so you can see some of the things you can build,” Sasha added. “How was your party?”

“Great!” Dean grinned. “I gotta baseball glove and stuff to draw with and a space hat and a OOONO game and Seth got me a storybook ‘bout a puppy in space and Mommy and Daddy got me sneakers and a jacket and Yorkie gave me a ball that I can throw for him.” He jumped up and grabbed Sasha’s hand. “And you gotta see what Uncle Shane and Aunt Becky and Paige and Finn sent me!” He earnestly stared up into her eyes. “All the way from Aust..Austr…”

“Australia,” Bayley added with a smile.

Dean led the way up to the boys’ room. “Daddy can you do it?” he called out over his shoulder.

“Sure,” Roman chuckled. 

In their bedroom, he closed the drapes to the window while Sasha settled onto Dean’s bed with him and Seth lay in his bed with Bayley. He turned off the overhead light then stretched out between the boys’ beds. “Ready?”

“Ready. Watch up there, Aunt Sasha.” Dean pointed to the ceiling.

Sasha looked up at the ceiling then grinned when stars appeared. “How cool!”

“Watch…watch…” Dean urged.

Sasha saw the outline of a constellation slowly being dawn. “Sagittarius,” she recognized.

“Those were the stars in the sky when I was born,” Dean explained. “The archer.”

“The stars when I was born are Gem’ni,” Seth spoke up. “Just like Mommy and Daddy.”

“Those are both very cool,” Sasha grinned, giving Dean a hug. “I don’t like mine.”

“What is it?” Dean curiously looked up at his Aunt.

“Aquarius. The Water-Bearer.” Sasha sighed. “How dull and boring and **hard**. Hauling water around all day.”

“Yuck,” Seth snorted.

“But this is a great gift, Dean.” Sasha hugged him once more.

Dean nodded, happily staring up at the stars.

 

A couple of days later, Bayley was sitting at the kitchen table, her laptop open as she composed an email to Shane.

“Mommy?”

Bayley looked up and smiled at her sons. “Hi,” she softly greeted, opening her arms to them. She hugged them both when they came to her.

“Mommy, can we email Santa now?” Seth asked.

“Sure, if you’re ready,” Bayley nodded. She saved the draft of her email and opened a new one.

“We’re still going to **see** Santa, right?” Dean pressed.

“Sure, we are,” Bayley assured him with a grin. She was amused to see Dean give a quick relieved nod. “Okay, what do you want to tell Santa?”

“Ummm…I want a baseball glove like Dean’s…Legos…storybooks…perfume for Aunt Sasha…toys for Yorkie…Mommy! What about Uncle Shane and Paige and Finn and Aunt Becky?” Seth worriedly asked.

“Well, Uncle Shane and I thought it would be a lot easier for Santa if we just asked for gift cards,” Bayley explained. “That way everybody gets to buy something of their very own.”

Seth thought about it, then nodded. “That’s good.”

“Anything else?” Bayley asked.

Seth shook his head. “I not think so.”

Bayley looked at Dean. “Your turn, honey.”

“Umm…storybooks about Mars…soccer ball…Dominos…perfume for Aunt Sasha…blanket for Yorkie…” Dean paused, then shrugged. “That’s it.”

“Okay, I think we can get perfume for Aunt Sasha at the mall,” Bayley decided. “We’ll go there next Saturday and see Santa. Then we can do some shopping.”

“Oh! Oh! Tell Santa we love him and we’ll leave cookies and milk for him!” Seth urged.

“What about Rudolph and the other reindeer? Won’t they get hungry?” Dean demanded.

“We’ll leave them some fruit,” Bayley assured them.

 

AJ hated going to the Florida State Prison. He always felt like he needed a long hot shower when leaving.

“Cubicle 4,” the guard said after checking his clipboard for AJ’s name.

AJ nodded and casually walked towards the designated cubicle. Sitting down, he studied the man on the other side of the glass. Red-haired, icy blue eyes, and an attitude of someone who could take care of himself.

Almost at the same time, they each reached for the phone.

“Lemme guess. You’re here about that bitch of a wife,” Jerry Ambrose growled.

“Wrong. Wanna try again?” AJ aggressively answered.

Ambrose’s eyes shifted. “Why are you here then?”

“I’m a private investigator working for the attorney who handled your son’s adoption,” AJ explained.

“Little bastard,” Ambrose snorted. “Probably not even mine. What about him?”

“Seems your soon-to-be-ex-wife wants the adoption reversed and get custody of him again.” AJ was surprised at the reaction.

“What idiot is gonna give her back that kid?” Ambrose chuckled. “And why would she want him back? She didn’t want him anyway. Brat did nothin’ but cry all the time anyway. Nothing more than a pain in my ass.”

AJ bit back a response and took a breath. “You sayin’ she wasn’t a good mother?”

Ambrose snorted. “Not unless you think bein’ a good mother is somebody either high all the time or whorin’ around to get high.” His blue eyes narrowed. “Guess what I know might be worth somethin’, huh?”

“Depends,” AJ shrugged. “Not sure though. You’re not exactly the most upstanding citizen.”

Ambrose snorted. “Compared to her, I’m a fuckin’ saint. You tell that lawyer you work for. I can tell him plenty about her. Hell, she’d even troll the shelters looking for a hook-up. You tell him that, Mr. A. J. Styles!”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.” AJ slammed the phone down, stood and walked away.

“Come on, Ambrose!” The guard snapped. “Back to your cell!”

“Fuck you,” Ambrose muttered even as he obeyed. He didn’t see the prisoner in Cubicle 5 watch him leave.

The prisoner turned back to his visitor and quietly spoke into the phone. “Sister Nikki, return next week. I may have some work for you.”

Nikki Cross nodded. “Of course, Brother Bray.”

“Time’s up, Wyatt!”

Bray Wyatt agreeably smiled at the guard and nodded.

 

Ambrose seethed all the way back to his cell. _‘That punk doesn’t want what I got? Bet the other guy does. **His** lawyer’s name’s gonna be on the divorce papers when I get ‘em. We’ll see what he’s willin’ to pay for it.’_

Ambrose glared as the cell door slammed shut behind him. “Little brat’ll pay for all of this,” he muttered as he began pacing the width of his cell. “Only time he ever shut up was when I doped his bottle.” He saw the man in the hallway staring at him.

“Move along, Harper,” the guard behind him warned.

Silently, Luke Harper proceeded down the hall to his cell.

 

Roman hated the mall even on a good day when it was nearly deserted. The mall two weeks before Christmas was one of the last places on Earth that he wanted to be. Then he looked down at his younger son excitedly skipping next to him and didn’t mind the ear-deafening noise of too many people in too small an area.

“Santa, Daddy.” Seth looked up at him with wide dark eyes. “We’ll see **Santa!** ” 

Roman chuckled. “That’s what we’re here for.” He kept a watchful eye on Bayley as she walked with Dean’s hand firmly in hers. As they walked through the mall to the center court where Santa would be found, Roman hoped the line wouldn’t be too long.

Fortunately, the wait time was only thirty minutes. Not a long time, Roman silently admitted, unless you were with two very excited children.

“Mommy, Santa knows if you’re good or bad, right?”

Bayley looked down at her older son and smiled. “Santa knows,” she nodded.

Dean twisted his body back and forth as he held onto his Mommy’s hand. “I mean, he **knows**.” He scratched his cheek. “He doesn’t listen to what the…others say?”

Bayley hugged him close to her. “Santa knows,” she assured him. “Nobody has to tell him anything. And Santa knows Dean Reigns is a very good boy.”

Dean peeked up at his Mommy for a few seconds, then nodded.

As the line moved forward, Seth stood on his tip-toes. _‘One…Two…Three…Three more until we see Santa!’_ He stepped to his left and caught a glimpse of…”Santa,” he reverently whispered. He caught his breath. “It’s Santa…”

Roman looked down at his younger son when he heard Seth start to hiccup. Then his eyes widened in confusion when Seth began to cry. He quickly picked his son up into his arms. “Seth? What’s wrong, buddy?”

“Santa, Daddy…it’s really Santa,” Seth sobbed.

Roman cuddled his son close to his chest and looked at Bayley. “He’s just…excited,” he murmured.

Dean looked at his brother in confusion. “What’s the matter with Seth, Mommy?”

“Daddy says he’s just excited,” Bayley explained, handing Roman a tissue from her purse.

“I’m excited,” Dean pointed out.

Bayley chuckled. “Well, Seth just got a little too excited.”

Dean frowned in thought. “I guess it’s ‘cause he’s still four and kinda little, huh?” But he peeked up at his brother to make sure Seth hadn’t heard him say those words.

Bayley hugged him and moved forward with the line.

“Here, let me take your glasses.” Roman removed Seth’s glasses and put them into his shirt pocket. Then he gently dabbed at the tears on his son’s face. “It’s okay, but you gotta calm down,” he soothed.

By the time Seth had calmed down and replaced his glasses, they’d reached the front of the line. He peeked over his shoulder at Santa and took a deep breath.

One of the elves grinned at Dean who grinned back. “Okay, we’re checking our list to make sure everybody’s here. What’s your name, my good sir?”

Dean chuckled. “I’m Dean Reigns.”

The elf checked his tablet. “Dean…Dean…ah! There you are! Dean Reigns! Right on time! Excellent!”

“Is Rudolph here?” Dean eagerly asked.

The elf shook his head. “Too many people around. It makes the reindeer nervous. But I’ll make sure Rudolph knows you asked about him.”

Dean bounced on his toes and grinned up at his Mommy.

The elf saw it was Dean’s turn. “Okay, Dean, ready to meet Santa?”

Dean impatiently nodded and followed the elf to where Santa sat in a large ornate chair.

“Dean, your Mommy will be right over here,” the elf assured him.

Dean’s eyes followed his Mommy and nodded. He hesitated then climbed onto Santa’s lap.

“Ho, ho, ho, Dean! Thank you for coming to see me today!” Santa greeted.

Dean’s blue eyes widened. “You know me?”

“Of course!” Santa chuckled. “Now, if you could only get one gift, what would you want that to be?”

“Ummm…a rocket ship!”

“Really? And where would you go?” Santa asked.

“To Mars! My cousin, Finn, and me are gonna go!” Dean excitedly explained.

Santa saw Dean’s mother close her eyes and sigh. “Well, rocket ships are awfully big,” he explained. “Almost as big as this mall.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “That won’t fit in my backyard.”

“Ah, but there is a place you can go to see rocket ships,” Santa assured him. “Perhaps a book about them?”

“Yes, please!” Dean begged. “I’m learning to read in school!”

“Good for you!” Santa looked at the elf who had accompanied Dean. “Elf! Make a note of that!” 

“Yes, sir!”

“Now, how about a picture?” Santa suggested.

Dean nodded and turned towards the camera. He widely grinned then hugged Santa.

The elf moved to where Bayley stood. He showed her the tablet where he’d written “Kennedy Space Center book”. 

Bayley groaned, but nodded.

“Could be worse,” the elf muttered. “My little one wants to live under water with the whales.”

Roman put Seth down as Dean got his picture taken with Santa. The elf who approached was a young woman with pixie-cut blonde hair.

“Hi, sweetie! I’m checking the list…your name?”

“Seth Reigns,” Seth quietly asked.

“And there you are!” She glanced at Santa who was waving good-bye at Dean. “Ready, Seth? Your Daddy will be right over there.”

Seth took a deep breath and nodded. He slowly walked towards Santa who cheerfully smiled at him. 

Seconds later, Seth was on Santa’s lap and hugging him tightly.

“Ho, ho, ho, Seth! Thank you for the hug!”

Seth beamed up at Santa. “We’re going to leave milk and cookies for you! And fruit for the reindeer!”

“I’m going to look forward to it, and I know the reindeer will love the snack,” Santa grinned. “Now, if you could only have one thing for Christmas, what would it be?”

Seth lowered his voice. “My mommy’s gonna have a new baby. I want a little sister so I can still be the baby brother. But a baseball glove like my brother got for his birthday would be good so we can both play catch with Daddy.”

“Well, I’ll see about the baby sister; but I think the baseball glove is a much better choice,” Santa nodded. “Elf, did you make a note of that?”

“Absolutely, Santa!”

“Can we take a picture together?” Seth eagerly asked.

“That would be perfect,” Santa assured him. He saw Roman nod when the elf showed him her tablet.

“Thank you, Santa,” Seth whispered, giving him another hug. “And thank you from my brother if he forgot to say it. I think he was really excited.”

“Merry Christmas, Seth,” Santa whispered in return.

 

“Mommy, where are Daddy and Dean?”

Bayley smiled at her younger son as they stepped off the escalator onto the second floor of the mall. “I asked them to take a walk so we could find a Christmas present for Daddy.”

Seth excitedly hopped up and down. “What, Mommy? What?”

“I had an idea,” Bayley admitted. They walked past several stores until she found the one she was looking for.

As they walked towards the back of the store to a display, Seth curiously looked around. “Frames for pictures!” he finally said.

“That’s right,” Bayley nodded. She took one of the display frames and held it down for Seth to see. “This is the one I was thinking about. See, the pictures change.”

Seth’s dark eyes widened. “Oooooohhh.” He carefully touched the glass, then pulled his finger back.

“I was thinking you could help me pick out the pictures,” Bayley suggested.

“Yeay! I **love** shopping!” Seth loudly announced.

 

Roman was sure Dean was going to sneeze his head off before they would be able to get out of Bath and Body Works. His older son miserably leaned against him as he wiped a tissue across his nose…the same tissue Roman had used to earlier dry Seth’s tears.

“Mommy will like it,” Dean mumbled.

Roman ran his hands through his son’s curls. “I know she will.” The expensive bath salts and both lotion was something Bayley rarely bought for herself.

“It makes Mommy smell good.”

Roman couldn’t argue the point. He inwardly sighed as the line to the register barely moved. _‘I hate shopping!’_

Dean continued to sneeze.

 

“Dr. Kingston, thank you for seeing me.” AJ shook Kofi’s hand as the therapist waved him towards a chair in his office.

Kofi closed the door behind them and walked to sit down behind his desk. He silently took the subpoena he was handed. “My patient’s records are confidential,” he quietly spoke.

AJ nodded. “That’s a subpoena calling you as a witness for the Reigns’ should this matter get to Court.”

Kofi nodded and sat down. “And I’ll be happy to testify as best I can for him.” He settled back in his chair. “Dean’s emotional well-being is my top priority.”

AJ nodded. “Without breaking any confidentiality could you testify as to Dean’s nightmares?”

Kofi frowned. “That would all depend on the question and how it was presented.”

AJ grunted. “Professionally speaking, do you think another therapist will be brought into this?”

Kofi nodded. “Most assuredly by the opposing counsel once my involvement is known. And probably a Court appointed therapist if the matter goes into Court.”

“Great,” AJ grumbled. “I’ve no idea how Dean’s going to understand that.”

“Dean is a very intelligent perceptive child.” Kofi chose his words with care. “I would be greatly surprised if he doesn’t pick up on something the longer this gets dragged out.”

“Would that be a good thing?” AJ hopefully asked.

Kofi met AJ’s eyes. “I don’t think so.”

 

AJ’s visit with Dean’s pediatrician Dr. Maryse Mizanin was less productive. She did mention Dean’s recent appendectomy, and AJ made a note to tell Xavier to subpoena those records and the hospital staff involved.

Maryse wasn’t impressed by the subpoena he handed her.

AJ hoped her bedside manner with kids was better than the reception she’d given him.

 

“How are you doing, Bayley? All set for Christmas?”

Bayley grinned at her obstetrician, Beth Copeland. “Let’s just say we’re going to be putting in some assembly time on Christmas Eve.”

“I hope you’re better at it than Adam is,” Beth referred to her husband with a grin. She glanced at her chart. “Your blood pressure’s a little higher than I’d like to see it. Are you having any problems?”

Bayley glanced at Roman. “You know our older boy, Dean, is adopted?”

When Beth nodded, Roman continued. “His birth mother is now challenging the adoption. We’re both a little…stressed.”

Beth looked shocked. “But, you’ve had Dean for years.”

Roman nodded, rubbing Bayley’s shoulder. “She just got out of prison, apparently, and is putting her life back together.”

“But that doesn’t mean she’s capable of providing for him now,” Beth protested.

Bayley forced a grin. “You’re preaching to the choir.”

Beth nodded. “Okay, we’re going to keep a close eye on you through this,” she promised. “I know I don’t need to say it and it’s probably impossible, but avoid all the stress you can. Okay?”

Bayley nodded.

“Ready to see the wee one?” Beth teased.

Roman helped Bayley onto the table, then stood to one side, holding her hand.

“And there he or she is!”

Roman and Bayley both squinted at the screen.

Bayley’s eyes widened as she observed the little face. She turned to look at her husband only to see tears in Roman’s eyes.

“Boy or girl, that’s your nose,” he smiled. “Thank God.”

“Do you want to know the baby’s sex?” Beth asked.

The two looked at each other, then Bayley nodded. “Can you tell?”

Beth concentrated as she moved the wand. “If someone will cooperate, yes.” A few seconds later, she smiled.

 

Seth glanced from his Mommy to his Daddy. They’d been giving each other funny looks all though dinner. He felt his tummy begin to hurt. The last time this happened, he learned about the new baby.

“How would you boys like to go with me this weekend and pick out a Christmas tree?” Roman asked as they finished desert.

“We help pick it?” Seth curiously asked.

“Yep,” Roman nodded. “While we’re gone, Mommy can get all the decorations out, and we’ll get our tree ready for Christmas.”

“Yeah!” Dean cheered.

Seth continued to watch his Mommy and Daddy. His tummy continued to hurt and he was nervous and he just wanted to scr….

“Mommy and I went to the doctor today about the new baby,” Roman carefully spoke.

“Is the baby sick?” Dean asked with a frown.

“No, honey, the baby’s fine,” Bayley assured him. “But the doctor just wants to keep an eye on the baby.”

“And on Mommy,” Roman added. “But we **did** find out whether you’re going to have a little brother or little sister. Do you want to know?”

Dean’s blue eyes flickered towards his brother, then he nodded.

Seth silently nodded. _‘The new baby’s gonna be a little brother…I know it!...I won’t be the baby brother any more…not fair…taking **my** place…’_ His tummy really began to hurt even more and he just wanted to scr…

“The new baby is your little sister.”

**_‘SISTER?!’_** Seth’s eyes popped open wide.

Dean bounced in his chair, then hopped down and hugged his Mommy.

“A baby sister?” Seth asked his Daddy. “Really? A baby **sister**?”

Roman grinned. “Yes. You’ll have a baby sister. And I promise. No pink. And I’ll tell everyone no pink.”

Seth sniffled then hiccupped.

Roman reached over and pulled Seth onto his lap. “You’ll be a great big brother,” he whispered.

Seth nodded. “I will,” he promised. _‘Thank you, Santa!’_

 

Roman could hear Sasha’s scream of **‘A GIRL!!’** all the way across the kitchen. Shaking his head with a grin as his wife carefully held her phone away from her ear, he walked out onto the deck and called Antonio to give him the news.

 

After hanging up with Roman, Antonio stared out of his condo window at the setting sun. A little girl. He was thrilled for his friend. Yet the news brought back memories that tore into his own heart. Memories of a dark-haired dark-eyed little girl who danced more than she walked. A little girl he’d barely known and now never would.

He reached for his phone, then hesitated. When he left Switzerland, he told himself that he needed to make more changes than just in residence. He needed to change who he was. Perhaps he would fail. Perhaps it would lead to more pain and heartbreak. Surely it was safer not to take chances…

But the ‘what ifs’ haunted him. What if he hadn’t been so obsessed with his career? What if he’d paid more attention to his wife and daughter? What if that last argument hadn’t driven his wife and daughter from their home and onto a highway that ended in their deaths?

What if he played it safe and took no chances?

What if he took the chance?

He quickly typed a message and sent it before he could question himself further.

_‘Do you have plans for New Year’s Eve?’_

 

Roman stretched and arched his back. He’d told the boys that because they knew the baby was going to be a girl, they could get a head start on decorating the baby’s room. Which meant he needed to clean out the storage room. Now all that stood in the former storage room were the two assembled Christmas presents for their sons.

Bayley leaned against one wall and wearily smiled. Roman had done a good job in putting together the space rocket and doctor’s office. Tomorrow, he would move the boys’ play table from their room into what was now the playroom.

“I’ll take the tool box down to the garage, and then we can get some sleep,” Roman grunted.

Bayley glanced at her watch. “It’s 2:30,” she grinned. “Want to guess on when the boys will get us up?”

“No,” Roman shook his head as he walked out of the room. “I’d rather fantasize about sleeping until noon.”

 

**“DADDY! MOMMY! MERRY CHRISTMAS!”**

Jolted out of an exhausted sleep, Roman automatically caught his younger son in his arms. “Don’t jump on Mommy.”

“We won’t.” Dean crawled up the bed with a wide grin on his face.

Seth wrapped his arms around his Daddy’s neck and squeezed. “Christmas, Daddy! It’s Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, sweetheart.” Bayley sat up and kissed Dean’s cheek, then leaned over and kissed Seth’s forehead.

Seth giggled as Roman lay back down, cuddling Seth in his arms. “Too early,” he groaned. “Let’s all go back to sleep.” He glanced at the clock on his bedside table. _‘At least they waited until the sun was up.’_

“But it’s not early,” Dean protested. He leaned across his Daddy’s chest and peered over Seth’s wiggling body. “It’s…seven…three…six!” He sat back with a satisfied grin.

“Oh, 7:36,” Roman seriously nodded. “That means I get another two hours of sleep.”

**“DADDY!”** Seth’s head shot up, a look of horror on his face.

Roman chuckled and glanced at Bayley. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas.” Bayley leaned over Dean and gently kissed her husband.

Roman heard one of his sons mutter “kissing…yuck…”

“Okay, I suppose we can get up,” Roman sighed. “Breakfast first, right?”

Dean quickly shook his head no while Seth gave his Daddy another horrified look.

“I guess breakfast will have to wait,” Bayley grinned as she got out of bed.

Both boys jumped down from the bed. Roman grunted as Dean’s knee caught him in the stomach. “Wait for us,” he ordered. He grinned to himself as the two boys skidded to a halt at the bedroom door.

“Mommy will go down first and turn on the lights on the Christmas tree,” Roman said, taking both boys by the hand and waiting in the hallway. He watched in amusement as Seth bounced up and down and Dean hopped from one foot to the other.

“Okay!”

Yorkie ran past them and down the steps, barking in his own excitement. They heard Bayley laughing.

Roman leaned down. “Okay, you both get a ride downstairs; but you have to keep your eyes closed for the surprise.”

Dean’s wide eyes met his brothers’. Then he slammed both hands over his eyes. Seth screwed his eyes shut. 

Roman chuckled and picked both boys up. “Hold on,” he said as he carefully walked down the stairs.

“Not looking, Daddy,” Dean muttered.

“Me either,” Seth added.

“That’s good,” Roman chuckled. With both boys’ heads buried in his shoulders, he knew there was no way they could see what lay under the Christmas tree. In the living room, he gently set the boys on their feet and turned them towards the tree. “Okay, eyes open.”

Bayley was waiting with the camera and took two quick pictures of wide-eyed astonished boys. The tree had even more lights and decorations than they’d seen the previous night. Colored lights flickered off and on, reflecting in the silver balls hanging from the tree’s branches.

“Merry Christmas!” Bayley greeted.

Seth stood with hands over his mouth, his dark eyes wide as he tried to take in the tree, the presents, and the stockings draped across the base of the tree.

Dean’s eyes were equally wide but his mouth hung open. He slowly looked at his brother who stared back at him for a few seconds.

**“CHRISTMAS!”** they shouted, jumping up and down with excitement.

Bayley and Roman sat back on the couch and watched the boys open their gifts. They’d agreed not to buy gifts for each other, although neither were surprised when Seth handed a package to Bayley and Dean a package to Roman.

“You gave each other a present!” Dean grinned.

“So we did.” Bayley smiled at her husband who shrugged.

“Open!” Seth excitedly demanded, bouncing on his knees.

Bayley’s gift to Roman was a nice travel alarm clock that Roman had admired one day, joking that it would be better than the one on his phone which would go off almost every weekend. Roman’s gift to Bayley was a bottle of her favorite perfume. Both boys immediately leaned closer to their Mommy and sniffed.

“Smells good,” Dean nodded in approval.

Seth also nodded, his eyes closed in appreciation.

“Why don’t you find Mommy’s gift from all of us?” Roman suggested.

“And ours to Daddy,” Bayley added.

Roman put a hand on Dean’s shoulder as Bayley started to open her gift. “I want you to know Dean sneezed for a half-hour over this.”

Bayley raised her eyebrows as Dean snickered. Then she opened the gift and gasped. 

“It’s the stuff that makes you smell good, Mommy,” Dean pointed out.

Seth immediately stuck his nose to the box. “I can’t smell it” he protested.

Bayley opened the box and pulled out the bottle of lotion. She opened it slightly, and Seth took a deep breath. 

“Ahhhhh,” he happily sighed.

“Thank you.” Bayley kissed both boys and then her husband. “Now open yours,” she grinned.

Roman opened his gift to see a silver-gilt picture frame but no picture. He looked at Bayley in confusion.

Seth giggled. “It shows pictures, Daddy.”

Bayley took the picture frame. “Get on Daddy’s lap.”

When both boys were settled on Roman’s lap, she leaned closer and pressed the button on the back of the frame to turn it on.

“Watch,” Seth urged. “I helped Mommy pick the pictures.”

Roman’s grey eyes widened when he saw a picture appear…their wedding picture. The people who’d been with them in the picture had been removed so only the two of them stood together.

“Mommy, you’re so pretty!” Dean gasped.

“You, too, Daddy,” Seth loyally added.

“That’s when Mommy and I got married,” Roman explained.

“Where’s me and Seth?” Dean asked, wiggling against Roman’s side.

“You weren’t born yet, buddy,” Roman answered.

The next picture appeared. Dean, Seth, and Yorkie in the backyard. The boys’ clothes were rumpled, their hair mussed, and dirt stained their knees and arms. But they happily grinned as they hugged their puppy.

Roman grinned even as the third picture appeared. This was one of the boys on their first day of pre-K. Posed in the living room, their backpacks rested against them as they stood arms around each other’s shoulders, smiling in anticipation of the day.

The fourth picture slowly appeared and Roman caught his breath. Lying on a blanket on the floor on his stomach was Seth…just past a year old. Propped up on his elbows, he stared into the eyes of his brother, Dean…a few months older. Dean mirrored Seth’s position, and the two boys stared into each others’ eyes. Dean was grinning, and Seth looked like he was giggling.

“That’s my boys,” Roman whispered, hugging both of them.

“We were **little** ,” Dean laughed.

The last picture was of the entire family, sitting on the beach. Roman remembered Sasha taking the picture and messing with the boys to get them laughing. He had one arm around Bayley and the other around Seth while Dean leaned back against Bayley.

When the pictures began repeating, Bayley turned it off. “There’s room to add more pictures whenever we want.”

“It’s for your desk, Daddy, so you can always see us,” Seth announced.

“You can keep it like this or just set it for one picture,” Bayley explained.

“Cool, huh?” Dean grinned.

“The coolest.” Roman cleared his throat. “You guys still got a couple more packages.” When the boys turned trotted back to the tree, he leaned over and kissed Bayley. “Thank you. Best Christmas present.”

“My baseball glove!” Seth shouted. “Dean! Now we both play catch with Daddy!”

Dean was staring down at a book. “Rocket ships,” he murmured. 

“Those are at the Kennedy Space Center,” Roman explained. “Where NASA is.”

“Like my cap!” Dean’s eyes widened.

Roman nodded. “I thought we’d take a trip over there, and you could see actual space rockets.”

“Seth! Space rockets!”

Seth looked up from his baseball glove. “Uh-huh.”

“It’s a day’s drive to get there, and one to get back,” Bayley recalled. “I’m thinking I’ll just stay home.”

“I stay too,” Seth firmly nodded.

Roman frowned. “Are you sure, Bayley?”

Bayley nodded and patted his leg. “Two days stuck in the car and one walking over that big place?” She shook her head. “The baby and I will stay right here.”

“Yeah, we’ll stay here,” Seth piped up.

Bayley grinned. “Well, if you’re staying, maybe we could go shopping.”

“Yeahhhh…” Seth nodded again with a happy grin.

Both Dean and Roman groaned.

“Shopping’s fun,” Seth pouted. “You get stuff and Mommy gives them a card and they put your stuff in a bag and give back the card.”

Roman laughed. “Okay, Seth, if you want to stay home with Mommy, you and I’ll figure out something to do together another time.”

“Okay.”

Dean looked up from the book. “We’ll see these?”

Roman nodded. “And there are some you can actually climb into.” As Dean gasped, Roman leaned over and whispered to Bayley. “Ready to show them upstairs?”

Bayley grinned and kissed his cheek. “Come on, guys. We’ve got something to show you upstairs.”

“What?” Seth asked.

“Santa left a couple of things upstairs for you.” Roman stood and took Seth’s hand. “Don’t ask questions. Just come on.”

Dean took his Mommy’s hand and they followed Seth and Roman up the stairs. “Funny thing,” Bayley commented. “We’d just cleaned out the storage room when Santa left a couple of things. So, instead of making the storage room into a bedroom, we thought about putting your play table in there and turning it into your own playroom.”

“But…what’s in there?” Dean asked.

Roman stopped at the closed door. “You’ll see,” he promised. “Ready?”

Both boys nodded.

“Seth, you look to the right. Dean, you look to the left,” Roman said as he opened the door.

Seth stepped into the room and looked to the right. **“EEEEEE!”** he squealed, jumping up and down with excitement.

Dean looked to the left and his jaw dropped.

“I play doct’r! Like doct’r Heath!” Seth ran over and patted the eye chart on the wall. Then he scampered to the desk to look at the laminated cards.

Dean slowly walked towards the rocket ship. He tentatively reached out and touched it, then slowly ran his hands along its side. “I can get inside?” he quietly asked.

“Sure,” Roman grinned as Dean carefully settled into the seat. “Seth! You can sit in here, too!”

Seth ran over and climbed into the rocket ship as well. He curiously looked around.

“Close the doors,” Roman instructed. When they did, lights appeared on the console.

Seth gasped and looked at Dean. When one of the lights began flashing green, he carefully pushed the button. The monitor in front of them flickered on. “Prepare for blastoff in twenty seconds.”

Seth looked nervous and hiccupped.

“It’s okay, Seth,” Dean calmly assured him. “It’s just p’tend. We can’t blast off really. We don’t have spacesuits.”

As the countdown reached ten, another light began to blink green.

“Ignition. We have primary ignition.”

Seth immediately climbed out. “I go play doct’r.”

Intent on the screen and the console, Dean barely noticed his brother’s absence.

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Lift-off. We have lift-off.”

Dean’s eyes widened as the monitor showed the ground falling away as the rocket ascended into the sky.

Roman hugged Bayley when he heard a small sniff from her. Then they turned to play “doct’r” with Seth.

 

That afternoon, Bayley and Shane set up a Skype call. After exchanging a few comments, they turned their respective tablets over to the four children who all began to talk at once.

Paige talked about her soccer equipment and roller blades. Seth talked about his baseball glove and their Daddy’s picture frame. Dean talked about going to the Space Center which immediately got Finn’s attention away from talking about his rugby equipment.

“You’ve got to take pictures!” Finn eagerly demanded. “You’re gonna see real rocket ships!”

Dean bounced in excitement. “I am!” He looked at his Mommy. “Can we show ‘em now? Please?”

Bayley took the table and nodded. “The boys want to show something else they got, but it’s upstairs in the new playroom.” She glanced over her shoulder at Roman. “And it’s all Roman’s fault.”

Roman laughed. “My idea, but you agreed.”

“Mommy!” Seth’s eager voice drifted down the stairs.

“Coming!” Bayley called back. “So what time did Paige and Finn get you guys up?”

“Too early,” Shane groaned as Becky snickered.

“I hear that,” Roman grunted from behind Bayley.

Standing outside the door of the playroom, Bayley cleared her throat. “First we’re going to see…” She walked in and turned the tablet so they could see Seth. “Doctor Seth, eye doctor.”

“Daddy, sit down so I can test your eyes.” Seth pointed to the floor.

Roman obediently sat cross-legged on the floor. 

Seth covered one of his eyes and pointed to the chart. “Read please.” When Roman read the chart, Seth seriously nodded. “You have good eyes.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s awesome!” Becky announced. “What a wonderful idea!”

“Do you have eye drops?” Paige demanded.

Seth frowned, then shook his head. “Should I?”

“Doctor Heath didn’t have any, did he?” Roman asked

“No.”

“Okay, then. No eye drops.” Roman firmly stated, hearing Shane snicker.

“Doct’r Heath helped me see good, and now I can do that,” Seth proudly announced.

“My turn now?”

Roman looked past Bayley and nodded at Dean who closed the side door to the rocket ship.

Bayley slowly turned around. “We now take you to the Space Center for the launching of a rocket ship.”

**“What????** ” Finn’s voice was loud and clear.

“Prepare for blastoff in twenty seconds.”

Bayley carefully moved the tablet so only the back of the rocket was seen.

“What in the world?” Becky wondered as Finn wiggled in front of her.

“Ignition. We have primary ignition.”

**“No way!”** Finn yelled, his blue eyes wide, staring at the tablet screen.

Bayley finally moved the tablet to show Dean sitting in his rocket ship.

“You’re kidding me!” Finn demanded.

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Lift-off. We have lift-off.”

“Bye, Finn!” Dean yelled with a grin. He waved to his cousin on the other side of the world.

Finn’s jaw dropped open. “That’s…that’s…” He looked at his father.

“Bayley,” Shane said in a tired voice.

“Misery, Shane. Misery.”

 

Six days later, Sasha walked through the lobby of a hotel in New York City. Definitely upscale but not ostentatious. Sasha wasn’t sure if she liked the art deco décor. It was just different enough to catch her attention, but it wasn’t something she’d like on a regular basis. Still, it fit the hotel.

Sasha smiled at the older man behind the reservation counter. “Hi, Sasha Banks. I believe there’s a reservation?”

The man checked his computer monitor. “Ah, yes, Ms. Banks. Your suite is prepared.”

_‘Suite? Interesting.’_

Sasha produced her identification then accepted the key card.

“Your other party has already arrived. Please enjoy your stay, and let us know if we can do anything to make your time with us more enjoyable. Do you need assistance with your luggage?”

Sasha smiled. “Thank you, I’m fine.” She tapped the key card against the luggage handle as the elevator rose to the upper floors. Exiting the elevator when it reached her floor, she followed the discreet signs to the correct room. She slid the key card into the slot, then opened the door. She stepped into the room and allowed the door to close behind her.

“I could have met you at the airport.”

Sasha shrugged out of her coat and grinned. “I wouldn’t make anybody come to JFK,” she teased. She crossed the room and hugged Antonio. “How in the world did you get a reservation for New York City on New Year’s Eve on such short notice?” Behind Antonio, she saw a perfect view of the Manhattan skyline.

Antonio grinned. He walked to a side table and opened a bottle of wine. “I suppose I should allow you to believe I have very important contacts who owe me all sorts of favors.” He poured the wine and presented Sasha with a glass. “The truth is I made this reservation many months ago. However, I was fortunate enough to get an upgrade when I called a few weeks ago.”

“Well, here’s to Lady Fortune smiling on us.” Sasha raised her glass with a wicked smile.

“Indeed,” Antonio agreed with a smile as he raised his own glass. “To Lady Fortune.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, feedback and comments are most welcome!


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